Distributor release clutch



R. E. SELTZER DISTRIBUTOR RELEASE CLUTCH June 8, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2, I953 INVENTUR. E. SELTZER 1 C! ATTORNEYS ROBERT June 8, 1954 R. E. SELTZER 2,680,539

. DISTRIBUTOR RELEASE CLUTCH Filed Feb. 2, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ROBERT E SELTZER BYC7H,,- r{ 4 I,

ATTORNEYS Patented June 8, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,680,539 DISTRIBUTOR RELEASE CLUTCH Robert E. Seltzer," Bellevue, Ohio, assignor to Spred-All, Inc., Bellevue, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 2, 1953, Serial No. 334,429

Claims. (01. 222-177) This invention relates to agricultural material Another object of this invention is'the provispreaders and the like and particularly to a novel sion of an im roved hub structure for supporting and improved hub structure therefor and a clutch the ground wheels of a distributor of the nature mechanism associated with the hub structure referred to on the hopper thereo and which hub In general a distributor o the nature with 5 structure embodies devices for eiiecting a prewhich this invention is conceined and designed cise axial ad ustment of the agitator shaft with- 18 for the purpose of distributing chemical fertiin t e hopper and on which shaft are located 12ers and othei soil treating or conditioning subthe feeding discs or elements of the distributor is drawn over the ground. Among the problems Inasmuch as some of the materials which are that have arisen in connection with such disdispensed from a distributor for agricultural purtend to become sticky in moist weather. Also, anism for selectively connecting and disconnectthe materials will vary widely as to the amounts ing the ground wheels of the distributor of the substantially positive in operation and which are mg specification in connection with the aecoincapable of close regulation. Such a feeding depanying drawings, in which:

vice is disclosed in my co-pending application I Figure 1 is a persp v View showing a dis- Serial No. 272,588, filed February 20, 1952 and tributor of the nature referred to adapted for assigned to the same assignee as the instant being provided with the structure of the present application. invention;

In the co-pending application referred to above I Figure 2 is a partial sectional view through one the feeding device consists of a disc rotatable of the hubs of the distributor and is indicated by within the hopper of the distributor having peline 2+2 on Figure l; ripheral teeth bent outwardly on opposite sides Figure 3 is a sectional view indicated by line of the plane of the disc and extending part way 33 on Figure 2; through the feed openings in the bottom of the Figure 4 is a sectional view indicated by line hopper and running close to the edges of the feed in 4-4 on Figure 2; opening. It will be evident that with an arrange- Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional View indiment of this nature, it is essential for the feedcated by line 55 on Figure 2; and ing discs to be accurately located relative to the Figure 6 is a sectional view indicated by line feed openings and heretofore it has been some- 6-6 on Figure 5. what difiicult to accomplish this adjustment with Referring to the drawings somewhat or in the desired degree of accuracy while st ll maindetail and in particular to Figure l the distribu taining economical manufacturing procedures in tor with which the present invention deals mmthe production of the distributor. sists of a hopper having ground Wheels :2 at the Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the opposite ends and which ground wheels drive present invention is the provision of an arrangeso shaft means Within the hopper end on. which tributor of the nature referred to can be accurateor elements within the hopper that cause the ly positioned relative to the feed openings of the material to be dispensed to be discharged there topper whereby precisely the proper feeding from.

ictionishad at alltimes. The distributor is provided with a hitch mechanism 14 extending from the front side thereof to which can be connected a suitable draft means such as a tractor. The hitch mecha nism may also provide support for the adjusting mechanism represented by lever it which serves to vary the effective sizes of the feed openings in the bottom of the hopper to regulate the rate of discharge of material therefrom.

Turning now to Figure 2 this figure is a vertical section through the right end of the structure of Figure l and in Figure 2 it will be noted that the right end wall iii of the hopper supports a hub 26. The right end wall i8 has an opening therein as will best be seen at 22 in Figure 3 and the hub 26 has a boss thereon that substantially fits within the said opening. The end wall I8 is provided with nuts 24 which receive bolts 26 that fasten the hub to the end wall while on opposite sides of the hopper bottom at the end thereof there are secured the nuts 28 that receive the bolts 30 thus providing further support for the hub on the end of the hopper.

Hub 26 has an outwardly extending cylindrical part 32 having the spaced bearing areas 34 thereon on which is rotatably mounted an outer rotatable hub part 36 by means of the sleeve bearings 38.

Outer hub part 36 terminates at its outer end in a radial flange 46 adapted for receiving wheel bolts 42 that support a pressed steel wheel 44 on which tire 46 is mounted.

The outer hub 36 also has a recess 48 in its outer end and mounted therein is a circular drive element 56.

Turning now to Figure 4 in connection with Figure 2 it will be observed that drive element 56 has a flat sided aperture 52 therein that receives the correspondingly shaped end 54 of agitator shaft 56 that extends through inner hub 26 and which is journaled in the outer end of cylindrical portion 32 thereof by sleeve bearing 58.

Inside hopper I6 shaft 56 has fixed thereto the feeding elements or agitator blades to each of which registers with a feed opening 62 in the bottom of the hopper. Each agitator blade comprises the teeth 64 that extend part way through the associated feed opening 62 and which run closely adjacent the side edges of the said opening.

In order to provide for precise axial adjustment of shaft 56 in the hopper, the shaft is provided inwardly from the inner end of hub 26 with a. helical groove 66. Groove 66 is adapted for receiving the correspondingly shaped end 68 of a screw "I6 in a collar 1'2. Collar 12 is partially close fitting cylindrical recess in the inner face of hub 26 and abuts a thrust washer 14 at the bottom of said recess. It will be apparent that rotation of collar 12 relative to shaft 56 which can be accomplished by slightly loosening screw 16 will bring about relative axial movement between shaft 56 and hub 26 whereby the said shaft can be axially adjusted within the hub.

The drive element Bis availed of to cooperate with collar 1'2 in holding shaft 56 in adjusted axial position and this is accomplished by employing the cap screw 16 and locking washer 18 to hold drive element 56 in the proper position on the end of shaft 56.

The shaft 56 extends one-half the length of hopper l6 and a corresponding shaft along the other half of the hopper is driven by the other ground wheel. This arrangement permits differential movement between the ground wheels when the distributor is being turned so that the wheels do not slip.

56 a bearing structure is employed consisting of the needle or roller bearing 89 supported in the rubber-like sleeve 82 that also fits closely about the shaft beyond the said bearing and protects the said bearing against the ingress of foreign material thereto. Sleeve 82 is supported on the half-round supporting bracket 84 that is welded to the center panel 66 of the hopper. The removable half-round top cap 63 retains sleeve 82 in position by virtue of clamping strap 66 that surrounds the assembly.

Referring now to Figures 2, 4, 5, and 6, it will be observed that drive element 59 on the side thereof toward the hopper is provided with four substantially radial and axially extending drive surfaces 92 each of which has associated therewith a relatively steep approach cam 94.

The drive surfaces 62 are availed of for establishing driving connection between the inner and outer hubs through the medium of a drive pin 66 mounted within an axial bore in outer hub 35 and axially shiftable therein tracted position in which it is shown in Figures 2 and 5 and where no drive connection exists between the inner and outer hubs, and an inner position in which the end of the drive pin is engaged by the adjacent one of the drive surfaces 92 and under which conditions a positive driving connection exists between the inner and outer hubs. The pin 95 is provided with a shifter 98 at the end adjacent the hopper and toward its other end the pin has the spaced grooves adapted for receiving the bail 132 mounted in a radial bore in the spring urged toward pin 66 by compression spring Hi4. Spring pressed ball I62 together with grooves lei) act as a detention to retain the pin 56 in either of The described arrangement is such that when the pin 96 is shifted manually to its drive posi tion, a driving connection will be established between the ground wheel and the associated agitator shaft 56 which will obtain throughout continuously forward motion of the distributor and for at least short reverse movements of the distributor. However, any time it is desired to release the driving connection between the ground wheel and its adjacent shaft, this can be done either by manually shifting pin 95 to its Figures 2 and 5 positions or by backing the distributor so that the ground wheel makes at least onc quarter of a revolution and during which revolution the pin 96 will ride up the approach cam 94 of the next adjacent driving surface 92 and will be snapped to its Figures 2 and 5 positions thus disconnecting the ground wheel from its agitator shaft. it will be apparent that while drive member 50 has been illustrated with four drive surfaces 92 thereon, it could be provided with a greater or lesser number thereof if so desired and the same mode of operation would obtain.

The hub structure of this invention together with the clutch which is described can also be utilized to advantage in driving auxiliary agitator shafts within the distributor hopper where auxiliary devices are associated with the distributor such as an extra feeding attachment that might be supported on the back of the hopper. This is done by forming splines on the inner end of tha outer hub and mounting thereon a sprocket it! over which a chain can be passed for effecting the driving connection referred to. Inasmuch a the outer hub is always rotating when the dis between a retributor is moving, it will be evident that the dis tributor portion of the device could be made inoperative by moving pin 96 to its Figure 2 position but this will not eiTect the driving connection between sprocket H36 and whatever it is connected to.

The hub structure according to my invention has a still further advantage in that the pressed steel wheel :34 can be reversed and a substantial diiference in the wheel spacing of the distributor can thus be had which will accommodate it to all conditions as, for example, where it might be desired to distribute fertilizer and weed killer or other soil treating or conditioning materials over an area already planted with crops in rows.

It will be understoo 1. In an agricultural material hopper, a stationary hub secured the hopper, an agitator shaft exte distributor; a to the end of taining said pin in its two positions.

3. In combination;

and means for securing said drive disc on the agitator shaft upon engagement of said pin by one of said pin engaging surfaces, and means for withdrawing said pin from said pin engaging surfaces.

5. In an agricultural material distributor; a hopper,

disc, and means for withdrawing said pin from one of said circumferentially spaced pin drive surfaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 616,298 Dykes Dec. 20, 1898 1,650,808 Van Brunt Nov. 29, 1927 1,670,645 Worthington May 22, 1928 1,728,685 Layne Sept. 17, 1929 1,773,607 Vandecan Aug. 19, 1930 2,469,483 Strong May 10, 1949 2,504,787 Bailey Apr. 18, 1950 2,511,514 Rosselot June 13, 1950 2,558,352 Gandrud June 26, 1951 2,563,778 Fasoli Aug. 7, 1951 2,603,383 Wilson July 15, 1952 

